Jeff Bonser is feeling a little bit like the Millwall of Bescot these days. Nobody loves him and while he does care, he realises there’s not a lot he can do about it, writes Martin Swain.

Bonser is now into his 21st year in charge at the Saddlers, a period which has seen the club enjoy sweep from the great highs of Graydon’s promotions top the follies of Merson’s relegations.

“But there’s no love for me here,” he says matter-of-factly. “There’s a generation of fans, the 18 and 19 year olds, who aren’t interested in what I have done in the past. They are only interested in what’s happening now and I’m never going to be able to please them.”

He’s right, of course. The message board generation are never slow to hand out advice and a cursory Google search soon brings you into contact with those demanding his exit.

Here’s one I found earlier.
” . . . a huge proportion of the missing fans are those of us who have supported the club through thick and thin for many years, but who, since last January in particular, have had enough of empty promises from the Chairman. The love affair, for too many, has ended. Mr Bonser, if you really want this club to progress, it’s time to sell up and let someone else have a go.”

The funny bit about that is Bonser would love to let someone else have a go and give him more time to race his beloved powerboats around the Greek islands. But finding someone with the clout and the energy to take on the challenge of running the Saddlers has proved easier said than done.

Bonser is no stranger to criticism over a perceived lack of ambition/drive/desire, call it what you will, to push the club forward when genuine moments of opportunity have arrived.
But, having repeatedly put the club on the market to the deafening sound of silence, he has remained a sure, safe pair of hands who has zealously guarded the security of Walsall through some turbulent financial waters.

Nothing he has faced to date is as serious as what he believes now lies ahead in the current full-blown recession. And at a time when the club is suffering from major disenchantment among its supporters, he has stuck his head straight into another wall of flak to warn them that he is about “batten down the hatches” in the face of this recession.
” I think this will be the most serious of my lifetime and the one thing I can promise is that, at the end of it, Walsall FC will still be standing,” promises Bonser. “I’m not sure that will be true of every other club.”
That won’t be enough to earn him any love or affection. But until someone else is willing to take on the task, it will have to do. . .

* Talking of the message board generation, I see Albion’s slide to the foot of the table has triggered the first “Mowbray Out” thread on one supporters’ website.

It’s been swiftly kicked into touch by the more rational Baggies but there was never anything more inevitable than the first signs of relegation trouble provoking at least some criticism of Tony Mowbray’s uncompromising commitment to an expansive game.

We should remember that this is a Premier League in which Bolton were bottom and in crisis one weekend and challenging for a UEFA Cup spot two results later.
And that when Albion have tackled Chelsea this weekend, they will have completed fixtures against the big four and Villa, Hull and Everton, the next three.

They were unlucky enough to catch Newcastle ‘on the up’ and not lucky enough to face a pre-Redknapp Tottenham. They have to hope these things even out but the critical phase is the spread of games which follow Chelsea – Stoke, Wigan, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Manchester City. These are the matches which will decide Albion’s fate, not getting well beaten at United and Liverpool.

Most of all, I hope the Baggies fans keep faith with Mowbray and his vision beyond this season, regardless of how it turns out.
What he is chasing is far, far beyond the culture of the last result which drives the Premier League age. It is to establish a style of football from a quality of player which can make Albion Premier League residents as opposed to tourists enjoying a season in the sun.

*If you’re a Wolves fan right now, you can’t help but ponder on the prospect of Michael Mancienne become a Molineux player. Permanently.
The through line is quite visible. First get him until the end of the season, by which time promotion is secured, Wolves can offer Premier League football and Chelsea, having convinced themselves that

Mancienne will not be able to break into their line-up, do a deal at an affordable rate.
Oh that it were that straightforward.

The fact is that Chelsea are a long way from giving up on Mancienne at this stage – and, seeing the accomplished ease with which he has handled the Championship, why should they be?
They wanted Mancienne to “get out and see the world” a little in green-lighting the Wolves deal. At QPR, where the England Under 21 defender played his previous loan football, the training ground was closer to his Hounslow home than Chelsea’s.

And he’s a quiet young man, surrounded by a protective family and as Mick McCarthy has confirmed, seemingly unaffected by the Stamford Bridge glitz.
Chelsea still are not quite sure if full back or central defender is his best position, the feeling being that Mancienne’s quiet nature demands that he plays alongside a more vocal organiser.

As for the price? Well, who knows what that could be assuming all of those factors came into play and Wolves were in a position to do a deal.
Chelsea can claim a fee even though he is into the final stages of his contract because of Mancienne’s age and any agreement would probably be packed with future add-ons It would be a minefield for Wolves to pick a way through.

Hull City thought they could keep Manchester United’s Frazier Campbell after promotion last season only to see him used as pawn in the Berbatov game.
Who knows what awaits Mancienne. Best for Wolves fans to let tomorrow take care of itself and enjoy the impact the young defender is bringing to their team’s promotion campaign.

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